E-mail this article

Sending your article

Each day throughout the Winter Olympics, we'll bring you a daily rundown on what to expect and a look at key story lines in Sochi.

What to watch today, Wednesday, Feb. 12

While you were sleeping (spoilers):

It was a wild ending in the women’s downhill, which resulted in the first tie for gold in Olympic Alpine history. Slovenia’s Tina Maze and Switzerland’s Dominique Gisin both finished the course with identical times of 1:41.57 on Wednesday. No silver medal was awarded, but Switzerland’s Lara Gut took home the bronze.

American Julia Mancuso, who won bronze in the super-combined earlier this week, thanks to the strength of her downhill portion of that race, finished eighth, almost a second off the winning pace.

The women’s downhill can be seen as part of NBC’s prime time coverage of the Winter Games Wednesday evening.

In curling, the US men broke a winless streak in Sochi for the Americans by beating Denmark by a healthy score of 9-5. As of 6:45 a.m., the US women were losing to China.

Medal watch:

Shaun White failed to medal for the men, but Americans Torah Bright, Hannah Teter, and Vermonter Kelly Clark will look to re-claim snowboarding for the US when the women's halfpipe finals take place (as with all events, streamed live, broadcast in primetime on NBC).

You can expect a good amount of NBC’s coverage Wednesday night to feature the finals in pairs figure skating, which features locals Marissa Castelli and Simon Shnapir, who stood in ninth place heading into the finals competition. The finals can also be seen live as part of NBC Sports Network’s coverage beginning at 10 a.m.

After Erin Hamlin secured the first medal for the US in luge on Tuesday, the men’s doubles run will take place Wednesday in Sochi (2 p.m., NBCSN), and Shani Davis will seek another speed skating medal in the men’s 1,000 meters (prime time, NBC). Medals will also be awarded in the Nordic combined (10 a.m., NBCSN).

In hockey, the NHL has arrived in Russia, and the men’s tournament gets underway on Wednesday with Czechoslovakia facing Sweden (Noon, USA Network), and Latvia taking on Switzerland (Noon, MSNBC). The US men play tomorrow, but the women have a big match Wednesday morning against Canada (7 a.m., NBCSN).

Tweets from the athletes:

Julia Mancuso following her downhill performance:

Today wasn't my day, but now I get to spend time with my family!!! Love my sisters:) and my Mama.… http://t.co/WUsezlAjcz